"Forgive me! That was unkind," she said.
"Well rather. You might see that I did not come to you with this
for--well for fun," he finished with a grim smile.
"You don't seem to be enjoying it greatly," she agreed critically. "I can
easily understand how this talk might result in something very serious
for you. You will remember, I think, that I warned you, you could not
leave the preacher on the other side of the fence." She was deliberately
trying him. "But of course you can easily avoid any trouble with your
people, you have only to--"
She stopped, checked by the expression on his face.
His voice rang out sharply with a quality in its tone that sent a thrill
to the heart of the woman. "I did not come here to discuss the
possibility of trouble for me. Please believe this--even if I am a
servant of the church."
He spoke the last words with a shade of bitterness, she thought, and as
she looked at him--his powerful form tense for a moment, with firm-set
lips and square jaw and stern eyes--she found herself wondering what
would happen if this servant should ever decide to be the master.
"Don't you see how this idle, silly, wicked talk is likely to harm you?"
he asked almost roughly. "You know what the same thing did for Grace
Conner. It is really serious, Miss Farwell--believe me it is, or I should
not have told you about it at all. Already Dr. Harry--" He checked
himself. His reference to his friend was unintentional.
Pages:
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203